Camping with Gibbs
by Emerald1
Summary: Their suspect is holed up at a campground. What else can they do? I'm digging the vibe of the new season. No spoilers, just no Ziva. Wanted to write something fun and light before I go back to deep and heavy.
1. Chapter 1

Camping with Gibbs

"Okay, so – joint operation?" Vance couldn't quite keep the grin off his face. Gibbs was grinning from ear to ear, Fornell not quite so much.

"A week, stuck at a campground, with DiNozzo and McGee? I figured the two of us could handle it; leave them here."

If it were possible, Gibbs' grin got wider as he climbed to his feet. "Come on, Tobias, let's show the boys what real camping is all about."

Still complaining under his breath, Fornell followed Gibbs out the door, allowing Vance to finally give in to his laughter. With a smuggling suspect that used camping areas to possibly conduct his business, it was the perfect cover, but part of him wanted pictures as he imagined the geek and the city boy camping with Gibbs and Fornell.

Downstairs, Fornell settled in to watch the show as Gibbs broke the news.

"All right, you two. We're all going undercover. Closest we'll ever get to a real paid vacation on the job."

"Boss?" Tony DiNozzo looked at his team leader and the FBI agent behind him.

Across from Tony's desk, McGee also had a worried expression. The last time he'd seen such glee on the older men's faces, he'd ended up sleeping with their joint ex-wife. "This isn't about Diane again, is it?"

Gibbs caught Fornell's arm as he tried to move closer. "Nope. Got a suspect in the Barton case who likes to set up in public campgrounds. We're going to go babysit him for a week."

"Camping?"

"The four of us?"

"Yep." Gibbs looked like he was having way too much fun. "So grab your sleeping bags and toothbrushes plus any other camping gear you might have, otherwise, you'll be camping Marine style. We leave in the morning. Oh, and McGee? Google yourself a picture of poison ivy before we leave."

Tony waited until the two older men left before spinning around to stare at Tim. "McGee, we're going to die."

"No, we're not." He paused, waiting for DiNozzo to remember one fact about him. Eventually, Tony's eyes widened and a hopeful look crossed his face.

"Okay, McScoutmaster, tell me you have a plan."

"Of course I have a plan, Tony."

DiNozzo gave a sigh of relief as he dropped his head. "Thank God."

-NCIS-

Tony had to admit he was nervous, standing on the curb and waiting for McGee to pick him up. He had his go-bag packed and he'd even gone out and bought a sleeping bag, an item he'd never owned before, but other than that, McGee was providing everything else for the two of them.

A honk pulled him out of his thoughts as a pick-up truck pulled up in front of him. McGee leaned out the window. "Throw your bag in the back and let's go."

"Where'd you get the truck?" Tony looked around as McGee merged into the traffic heading into DC. It was a lot newer than Gibbs' old truck, but a long way from being the latest model.

"Borrowed it from the Head Scoutmaster. I should probably just buy it from him, I think I use it more than he does." Tim checked the mirrors and changed lanes while Tony craned his neck to better see what all was packed in the bed of the truck, but it was mostly covered up and tied down. "Don't worry, Tony. We've got everything we need."

"Gibbs said he was taking care of food."

"Yeah, well, do you want to just eat his idea of camp food for a whole week?"

"Good point." Tony thought about the op for a moment. "So, what do you think? We're brothers, Gibbs is our dad and Fornell is our uncle?"

Tim knew exactly where Tony's mind was going. "You just want to annoy Fornell all week by calling him Uncle Toby." Tony didn't say anything, but the grin on his face was answer enough.

-NCIS-

"So, has DiNozzo ever been camping before?" Fornell considered himself past the age of enjoying the idea of sleeping on the ground, but the idea of watching the two younger men suffer through the week made it worthwhile.

Gibbs knew exactly what his old friend was thinking. "Just look at it this way – it'll beat anything you'd be missing on the boob tube." Laughing, they pulled into the Yard only to find another truck already waiting for them.

Tony jumped out as soon as they parked in back of them. "Dad, Uncle Toby, is this going to be a great week or what?"

Fornell thumped his head against the side window as DiNozzo danced outside. "Just shoot me now."

"Hey, this op was your idea."

"Shut up, Gibbs."


	2. Chapter 2

Two adjoining campsites had been reserved just up a slight hill from their suspect. The restroom was down a gravel path, past their suspect, giving them plenty of opportunities to walk near his tent. Gibbs pulled into one of the sites and climbed out of his truck, rubbing his hands in glee.

"All right, boys, let's see if we can get set up before lunch. That way we can go fishing this afternoon. You guys sharing our tent or do you have one of your own?"

Tim started to untie things and pull back the tarp. "We're all set."

"Uh-huh." Gibbs didn't sound overly convinced, but he was going to let them make the attempt. In the meantime, he and Fornell had a camp to set up. With a thud, Gibbs dropped a large duffel bag that contained a heavy canvas tent. The second bag, filled with poles and tent stakes, landed with a clang that made everyone's ears ring.

On the other side, McGee pointed out an area that looked fairly flat and was obviously the most popular tent spot in that campsite. "Tony, check for any rocks or twigs on the ground there. Remember, whatever is there, we're going to be sleeping on it."

"Yeah, okay. Any chance you brought a couple of beds with you?"

"We'd never hear the end of it if I had."

Tony sighed as he picked up a small pine cone and tossed it out of the way. "You're probably right."

"Don't worry, I've got something else." Grinning, Tim pulled out a nylon bag that contained his tent and a large square that was wrapped in plastic. Along with those two items he brought the tarp that had covered the truck bed. Once Tony was done, Tim stretched the tarp out onto the ground. "Okay, the tarp is the same exact size as the tent, so when we lay the tent out the four corners need to line up."

With only a few simple instructions Tony was able to quickly help Tim line up the tent, the door facing the adjoining campsite. Corner pegs were pounded into place, each through two overlapping grommets, the tent and the tarp beneath it.

Across the way, Gibbs and Fornell were still threading the sections of the large aluminum tent poles together and the two younger men exchanged a smile. Determined to have their tent up first, Tim sped up a little. The poles for his tent were flexible fiberglass with metal links and ends, each section of a pole held to the next with elastic. A quick flick of the wrist and first one, then the other long pole was assembled. A quick check that everything had locked together and the two main poles were ready to thread through the roof of the tent.

-NCIS-

"How old is this tent, Jethro?"

"Hey, they don't make them like this anymore. This thing will last forever."

"In other words, it came over on the Mayflower." When Gibbs gave him the glare, Fornell revised his statement. "Okay, okay, it made its debut during the Civil War."

"Keep threading, you've got three more poles to go." Gibbs glanced over as Tony and Tim bent their poles into place, raising the roof on the large tent. The ends of the fiberglass poles fit into small pockets in the lower edge of the tent, securing it. A second set of smaller poles finished the job of holding the tent up and they were already adding the rest of the tent stakes. By the time Gibbs and Fornell were unfolding their tent, Tony and McGee were tying off the rain cover on theirs.

-NCIS-

"It's not going to rain this week, is it?"

Tim had expected the question ever since they started putting up the rain fly. "Probably not, but this helps keep the dew out, too. Remember, there's a vent at the top of the tent."

"Oh, right. Fresh air's good, but are we going to freeze to death?"

"I've got a tent heater if it gets cold enough."

"Of course you do." With the tent now assembled, Tony looked around. "Now what?"

"Now this." Tim picked up the large, plastic wrapped square and carried it through the doorway of the tent.

Tony followed him and watched as he unwrapped it. Inside was a stack of inch thick foam floor tiles with interlocking edges. Tony recognized their advantage and started helping Tim fit them together to line the floor of the tent. "That'll be more comfortable that the ground."

As they worked, even more advantages became apparent, the best being the layer of insulation it provided between them and the ground. Some of the pieces had straight edges, obviously cut down, and Tim used them to perfectly fit the pad to the size of the tent. When he was finished, there were still a few squares left. Tim tossed half the stack to Tony. "Your bed."

"Cool." Testing it out, Tony found that the double layer made a reasonably comfortable sleeping area. Pleased, he went back out to the truck and brought back his and Tim's sleeping bags and pillows. When he returned, Tim had the two beds made up at one end of the tent.

The tent was large enough that even with space to walk around the two beds they were using less than half the tent. When Tony started to question why they weren't spreading out, Tim just grinned. Before he could explain, Gibbs shouted from the other campsite.

"Hey, you guys ready for lunch?"

Lunch turned out to be a sack of sandwiches from a deli near the Yard and as it was almost noon, they ate heartily as they sat on a fallen log. Their suspect was walking toward the lake with a fishing pole, so Gibbs scarfed down the last of his sandwich. "Ready for some fishing?"

Tony saw a slight shake of his partner's head. "Nah, we'll catch you next time."

Gibbs had seen the movement too, so he didn't argue. Fornell used the opportunity for some teasing. "If you boys are good, we might share our catch for dinner." Still grinning, he tossed his napkin into the fire pit and picked up one of the poles. Gibbs followed suit and they chose a wandering path to the lake, keeping an eye on the suspect. Tony waited until they were out of earshot before turning back to his partner.

"Well?"

"How do we usually handle surveillance on a suspect?" Not waiting for an answer, Tim started unloading more boxes from the back of his borrowed truck and came up with some tiny cameras.

Tony recognized them, but shook his head. "Okay, those have batteries, but the receiver needs to be within one hundred yards and it has to have some sort of power cause the battery on a laptop won't last a whole week."

"Yep, but let's get these set up while he's away from his camp."

While Tony stood watch, Tim placed the cameras. Several were pointed at the suspect's campsite from different angles, while more covered a wider range – including the closest fishing spot where Gibbs and Fornell were drowning bait along with the suspect.

Once they were back at their own campsite McGee pulled out a power cord and Tony looked around. "Let me guess, you've got a solar panel in the back of the truck?"

"Nah, I thought I'd just plug into the power outlet that came with the site." Grinning, Tim dropped the cord inside the tent and fed it out a small flap on the back wall before using the Velcro to secure the seam tight against the cord. "Don't want crawlies getting in here tonight."

Tony agreed about the crawlies, but he still wasn't sure where McGee thought he was getting power. Curious, he followed him out the tent and around to the back. Sure enough, there was a short wooden post, half hidden by some brush. Flipping open the metal cover on the side, Tim plugged the cord in before making sure it was secure and mostly hidden by the vegetation.

While he was doing that, Tony kicked enough dirt over the cord to hide it from view. "What Gibbs doesn't know..."

"Keeps us comfortable." Grinning at each other, the two men returned to setting up a more modern camp while keeping an eye on the activities at the lake.

-NCIS-

Gibbs and Fornell wandered down to the water, talking about last week's football scores and debating the chances of getting in a full week of vacation before the weather turned cold, all the while keeping their suspect in view. Passing him on the narrow bank, Gibbs gave a nod.

"Afternoon."

"Howdy. Saw you guys pull in earlier. Guess we're neighbors."

They'd discussed the cover story in the truck. "Yeah, guess they're closing down most of the park for the winter." Fornell moved close enough to shake his hand. "I'm Tobias, this is my brother, Jethro and his two boys are with us, Tony and Tim."

The offered handshake was accepted, the grip firm. "I'm Kyle. Yeah, I think the ranger mentioned something about there only being one bathroom still open. No point in cleaning more than that for just a few campers. You guys staying long?"

"A while, or until his two boys talk us into packing up and heading to a resort someplace."

Gibbs laughed at that as they moved further down the shoreline, far enough away that they wouldn't raise suspicions, but close enough that Kyle could still hear them. "Ah, it'll be good for them, Tim especially. He spends all day buried in a computer."

"Nah, no movies, no women – Tony will break first."

"Nope." Gibbs shook his head. He knew some of Tony's fondest memories of his childhood, his only really happy memories of his parents together, were of them on a fishing trip. He also knew that Tim's usual focus with the Scouts was helping them with their various technology based badges as their schedule made weekend camp-outs difficult.

"You ready to put your money where your mouth is, old man?"

"Old man? Really?"

"Hey, I'm not the one with two grown boys. So, twenty bucks that Tony folds first?"

"Twenty bucks? Living large there, Tobias."

"Fine. We'll make it a hundred and no influencing them either. Our new friend, Kyle, will keep things honest."

Gibbs looked over to see their suspect grinning and enjoying the show. "Fine."


	3. Chapter 3

Four hours later, Fornell was staring at a still empty fish bucket. "Are we sure this lake has any fish?"

From his spot further down the bank, their suspect wasn't having any better luck. "Yesterday I was out here at sunrise. Did pretty good then. Guess I'm having hot dogs tonight."

Nodding at him, Fornell turned back to Gibbs. "Tell me you've got a back-up plan for dinner."

"We got beans." Gibbs saw his expression. "What?"

"Nothing." Fornell smothering a laugh, rubbing his mouth. "Just really glad the boys have their own tent."

Gibbs gave a snort, but didn't verbally respond as they packed up. Kyle was also packing it in and led them back up the path toward the camp spots. He stopped and raised his head, Gibbs and Fornell noticing what he was smelling a few seconds later.

"New camper must have arrived. At least they'll be eating good tonight."

Agreeing with him, Gibbs and Fornell continued to follow him, Fornell almost stepping on his heel when he suddenly stopped again. Instead of saying anything, Kyle started laughing. The two agents stared past him in shock.

"What the hell?"

-NCIS-

The more Tim unloaded, the more Tony was grinning. Under normal circumstances he'd have tried to get out of the more physical labor of the set up, but he wanted everything done by the time Gibbs and Fornell came back. He was splitting wood for the campfire when Tim called him into the tent.

Tim had a laptop set up, the cameras streaming a live feed to them and they watched the unsuccessful fishing for a few minutes. "Guess we're not eating fish tonight."

"At least not very much." While he talked, Tim went back outside, Tony at his heels. He pulled a bag of chicken pieces out of one of his coolers, closing it quickly. "What do you say? Shall we have this cooking by the time they get back here?"

After Fornell's comment, Tony was all for it. "I'll get the fire going."

They had to scramble a bit, but the cook fire was ready and the chicken sizzling before Gibbs and Fornell left the lake, empty bucket in hand.

-NCIS-

While Gibbs and Fornell stared, Kyle started to chuckle. "I guess the actual competition is between old school and modern camping. Heck, I'm glad my brother canceled his plans and let me have his reservation. This might be a good show." Still laughing, he wandered off to his tent, leaving the other two men standing there.

The fire pit in the boy's campsite had a fire going in it, an elaborate, multilevel cooking grate over it. A layer of chicken pieces was sizzling away on the bottom layer, closest to the fire, while various slices of vegetables roasted slower on the top level. Alongside the tent, a complete camp kitchen was set up, including a wash station, but what had the older men floored were the two hanging hammock chairs that were suspended from a device that was now mounted on the hitch of Tim's borrowed truck. The two younger men were swaying in the breeze, feet up, and enjoying a beer.

Tony saluted them with his bottle. "Hey, you want us to scoot the chicken over to one side so you have room to add your fish or do you have so much that you need to get another cook fire started?" He and Tim grinned at their expressions before tapping their bottles together in a joint salute and returning their attention to the fire.

Fornell turned to glare at Gibbs. "Why don't we have chairs like that?" You've got a truck."

Gibbs ignored him as he walked closer to inspect their set up. "Comfy, boys?"

"Oh, yeah." Tony used the support to push off slightly, increasing his rocking as he leaned back even more. "This is the life."

It was all Gibbs could do not to laugh. He settled for a slight shake of his head as he admitted to himself that he might have underestimated just a bit. "You boys going to share, or are you going to make us old guys settle for beans?"

Tim spoke up for the first time since the fishermen had arrived. "We've got enough meat to go around. Why don't you heat up the beans to add to what we've got?"

"Sounds like a plan." Gibbs watched as Tim stood and moved closer to the fire. As he turned and checked the chicken, he moved the pieces closer together to make room for a pot of beans. Now Gibbs noticed a Dutch oven tucked into the edge of the embers.

Once Tim was done with the chicken pieces, he rotated the pan before standing. "Chicken should be done in about twenty minutes."

The beans were canned and just needed to be reheated. "Sounds good. What's in that bottom pan?"

"Dessert." Tim didn't elaborate as he sat back down and Tony returned his beer. That close, Gibbs could see the label, the boys were actually drinking alcohol free beer to stay alert.

Curious, but deciding to play along, Gibbs returned to the other campsite. Fornell followed along and was handed two stools while Gibbs opened a can and filled an old, battered pot with baked beans. When they returned to the boys' campsite, Tim stood and took the pot from Gibbs.

After taking a whiff of the store brand, unseasoned baked beans, Tim pulled out a bag of chopped onion pieces and a jar of minced garlic. They went into a frying pan with some oil and a few more seasonings. As Tim pre-cooked the onions and garlic, Gibbs poked around his camp kitchen. A good dozen or more small plastic containers with flip lids each held a different spice and was carefully labeled in McGee's precise handwriting. Laughing and hoping that the boys brought enough food for the four of them for the entire week, or that McGee would be willing to take over the cooking, Gibbs left the beans in McGee's capable hands.

Tony watched as Fornell fought with setting up the folding three-legged stools that looked as primitive as Gibbs' tent. Once Fornell was gingerly sitting on one of them, he pointed to the cooler with the sodas and the fake beer. "Drinks are in there, Uncle Toby. Help yourself."

"Couldn't have offered ten seconds earlier, could you?" Despite the muttered words, Fornell got up, knocking his stool over. He glared at it as it folded back up but went straight for the cooler. Gibbs was also helping himself to a drink before balancing perfectly on one of the small stools.

A half hour later, they were eating. Whatever Tim had added to the plain beans worked because everyone went back for seconds. Even the vegetables were gone by the time they were licking the last of the chicken bones clean of any flavor.

"Okay, kid, you're in charge of cooking from now on." Fornell eyed the last spoonful of beans before scooping them up. "When are you going to show us what's in the last pan?"

The two younger men exchanged a grin, then Tim grabbed a tool and lifted the pan from the fire pit before removing the lid. "It's a Dutch Oven style Caramel Apple Pie. All it needs is the caramel icing." He chuckled as the other three men instinctively leaned closer, breathing deeply. "How about some coffee to go with it?"

That was Gibbs' cue and by the time he had the coffee done McGee was scooping the dessert onto their plates. It wasn't a pie in the normal sense, but chunks of dough baked with thick apple slices, pecans, sweet spices and brown sugar. The caramel and cream cheese icing softening and oozing into all the crevices of the warm treat. Luckily, foil covered the entire inside of the pan, meaning clean up would be easy.

Fornell took the first bite, almost burning his mouth, but not really caring. "Timmy, you are now, officially, my favorite nephew."

Laughing, Tony didn't bat an eye. "Does that mean that you're going to protect him from evil Aunt Diane?" Fornell started to choke, which made Tony laugh even harder.

-NCIS-

"Goodnight, boys." Gibbs fondly watched the two younger men head into their tent. It had been a long day and their suspect was already down for the night.

"Night, Dad."

"Goodnight."

Gibbs and Fornell had taken on the chore of cleaning up after dinner since the other two men had taken care of dinner. All that was left was half the dessert, which had been covered back up and set aside for tomorrow, even though Fornell was eyeballing the foil packet.

"I'm not rolling you back to our tent, Tobias."

"That was good. Even you'd have to admit it."

"Yeah, it was. And it will still be good tomorrow."

Fornell gave one last, longing look to the leftover dessert before Gibbs set the package inside the Dutch oven. There were no bears in the area, but he wanted to keep the ants out of the sweet treat, not to mention FBI agents that tend to graze at night.

Wanting to let Tony and Tim sleep in peace, they moved back to their campsite, but the mosquitoes quickly drove them into their tent.

-NCIS-

Comfy in his sleeping bag, Tony rolled onto his side to face McGee. "Why didn't we know you can cook?"

"I don't cook at home. Learned a little bit when I was a Scout, then had to improve on that when I started volunteering as a Scoutmaster." Tim finally shifted around to look at Tony. "Do you remember Carson?"

"The kid in your troop whose dad was framed for murder and we cleared him? That's right, his dad was an outdoors-man or something."

"A guide, actually. After he was cleared, he was a lot more open and started helping us with the boys. First time we took them out on an overnight camp-out he taught all of us the basics of cooking outdoors."

Tony thought about the dessert they'd had. "After you learned the basics, you kept going."

"Had to stay at least one step ahead of the kids." Tim finished moving around, settling on his stomach, his chin resting on his folded arms. "I'd go out to a campground anytime we'd have enough time off and try out different things. Baking was a little tricky, but I think I've got the hang of it now."

"Uh, yeah." Tony thought about it for a minute. "You know, I bet Gibbs would let you build a fire pit in his backyard. Gibbs and I would be willing to be your Guinea pigs if you want to try out some more new recipes.

Tim had to laugh at the hopeful expression. "I'll think about it."


	4. Chapter 4

"Psst... wake up."

"Tony?" Tim rubbed his face as he tried to focus in the dark. "What are you doing? It's the middle of the night." He had to lean back as Tony shoved a phone in his face to show that it was actually an hour before sunrise.

"Come on, fish bite best at daybreak. Let's beat the old timers down there."

Tim sat up and stared at where he thought his partner was, putting on his clothes. "Okay, who are you and what did you do with Tony DiNozzo?"

"Not DiNozzo, not this week. We're Tony and Tim Gibbs and we're going to out-fish our dad and uncle." Apparently dressed, Tony was tugging at Tim's sleeping bag.

Giving in, Tim started feeling around for this shoes and coat. "You're crazy, you know that? He's going to slap us silly if we come back with a bunch of fish this time after they struck out yesterday."

Tony patted his knee and moved back to give him room to climb out of his sleeping bag. "Nah. Well, maybe me, but not you. Can't risk damaging the cook, now can he?"

"He'll show up, so we'd better have coffee." Tim finally had his shoes on and started moving around, gathering what they'd need, using his phone as a light instead of turning on a lantern. "You're really getting into this whole camping bit. Didn't think it was your thing."

The slight shadows showed a shrug. "Never went with someone so well equipped before. Besides, after everything that's happened, it's kinda nice to spread my wings, try something new."

"Yeah." The last few months had been hard, but the upside was that the two of them were closer than ever. "Winter's almost here, but why don't we plan on going out a couple of weekends next Spring? There's a new campground in Virginia that I want to try."

"Yeah?"

"Best of camping and resort vacations combined. Got a nice pool and they even have a crab festival. All you can eat crab."

"Crab? Okay, I'm in." Liking the sound of that, Tony watched Tim pack up most of what they'd need before gathering up their fishing gear and following Tim out, juggling everything as Tim zipped the tent closed.

-NCIS-

Gibbs heard a tent zipper and listened carefully before climbing to his feet to look out. It was just beginning to get light outside, but the boys were using a flashlight as they headed down the path to the lake. Thinking they had a good idea, Gibbs began to flex and stretch to work the kinks out from sleeping on the ground all night. He refused to admit that he was getting old, but the ground here was harder than it used to be. Finally able to move around, he nudged Fornell.

"Time to get up, the boys are already going down to the lake."

Fornell painfully rolled onto his stomach and pulled his knees under him to try and stretch his back as he groaned. "Tell me again why we're doing this?"

"It was your idea. Come on, get your ass in gear."

Gibbs was grinning, Fornell just knew it even if he couldn't see his face. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

He deliberately misunderstood the question, even as his grin widened. "A week of camping and fishing on your agency's dime? What's not to like?" Gibbs pulled on a hoody and a warm coat. "You coming or what?"

By now Fornell was sitting up as he shook his head. "Nah, one of us needs to stay with the camp." With that he laid back down and pulled his sleeping bag tightly around himself.

"Good of you to volunteer for that, Tobias."

There was a faint, rather uncomplimentary rebuttal, but Gibbs was already zipping the tent closed behind him.

-NCIS-

Knowing his obsessively prepared partner, Tony wasn't all that surprised at the tiny cookstove and the French press he pulled out of his pack to make coffee as they set up on the lake shore, but the individual packets of hazelnut creamer made him grin. "Timmy, you are a prince among men." Still smiling, he opened three of the packets and poured them into his cup as they waited for the press to do its thing.

Coffee finished and poured, Tony was just getting ready to take his first sip when Gibbs arrived, homing in on the cup in his hand. "Umm..."

Smelling the freshly brewed coffee had put a spring in Gibbs' step and he reached for the closest cup, only Tony's grunt making him look down and see the creamer in the coffee. Tim rapidly shoved another cup under his nose, averting a crisis. "Here you go: hot, black and strong. Just the way you like it."

Gibbs drank down half the cup without taking a breath. "Ahh, there's nothing like that first cup of coffee on a morning like this. You boys sleep all right?"

"Sure did. Where's Uncle Toby? He's missing out." Tony was grinning as he wrapped his fingers around his mug, enjoying the warmth.

"He's holding the fort down for us." Gibbs watched them closely, expecting to find them moving stiffly. They seemed to be moving quite easily, so Gibbs looked around. "Any sign of our neighbor?"

Tim held up his smartphone that he'd tied into his computer. "Was asleep in his tent until about ten minutes ago. Now he's up, moving around, so I expect him here soon."

Gibbs wasn't all that surprised. Officially, they were to watch for any visitor he might have but leave it to McGee to find a way to follow his movements carefully. "You got a way to keep that thing charged or are you relying on your truck battery?"

The two younger men exchanged a quick look, which had Gibbs' eyebrow climbing even if he didn't question them. Tim finally spoke after subtly poking his partner. "Yeah, we got it all figured out. No worries."

There might have been more questioning, but they heard the splash of a jumping fish and three fishing lines quickly went into the water.

-NCIS-

"Good morning, looks like they're biting this morning."

Gibbs saluted their suspect with his mug. Between the three of them, they'd gotten four nice size fish before stopping to watch a beautiful sunrise. "Sure are. Got some coffee left if you'd like some."

Kyle nodded his thanks as Tony poured the last of the coffee into the mug they'd brought for Fornell. "Thanks, that hits the spot this morning. So, these are your boys, Jethro?"

"Yep." He pointed them out. "Tony, my oldest, and Tim." Introducing the 'brothers' brought up a memory that Gibbs had only slightly registered the day before. "Did you say that your brother was joining you later?"

"He might, but I got the feeling he's going to be stuck at work all week. Too bad for him, but I'm enjoying his favorite camping spot."

Gibbs leaned back on his stool. "His loss." Tony's stomach chose that moment to growl and Gibbs let out a snort as Kyle laughed.

"Sounds like it's time to feed your boys."

"That it does." Gibbs looked down into the bucket holding the fish before looking up at Tim. "We got enough for breakfast?"

Tim reviewed what was in his coolers and food boxes. "With eggs and potatoes, it should be plenty"

"All right." Gibbs stood and started picking up. Not only did they need to eat, but he wanted to put a call in to Vance. "We'll probably see you later, Kyle. Good luck, hopefully we left you a few fish."

-NCIS-

Still stiff and sore, Fornell wandered out to look for coffee. The fire was cold at their campsite, so he wandered over to where DiNozzo and McGee were set up. No fire there either, but he honed in on the Dutch oven that held the remains of the caramel apple pie. Pulling open the foil, he tore off a chunk and looked around for a comfortable place to sit. He eyeballed the two hammock chairs before looking down the path to the lake. Determining that he was still alone, he decided to give it a try. He shoved the piece of pie in his mouth and hoisted himself up, not prepared when it twisted.

"Oh, shit."

-NCIS-

Gibbs waited until they were out of earshot of their suspect before he spoke. "I should have taken you boys camping years ago."

It sounded suspiciously like an apology and both of them turned to look at him. Gibbs gave a small shrug and Tony jumped in before Gibbs could say anything else. "Tim was telling me about a campground in Virginia that he wants to try, invited me to go with him. Maybe we could all go?"

"Sure. I was telling Tony that they've got an annual crab festival that sounds like a lot of fun." Tim nodded enthusiastically as he quickly thought. "Or there's a half dozen campgrounds that I was hoping to check out."

"Been a long time since I've had a mess of fresh crab. Let's try that one first." Seeing both their faces light up, Gibbs knew he'd made the right call.

The path narrowed slightly, forcing them to walk single file for a bit. Tony ended up in front as he had the least amount to carry. When the path widened back out, he was still a few steps ahead of Gibbs and McGee, becoming the first to see their campsite. Tony stopped and stared, craning his head to the side as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

Gibbs was just starting to ask Tim about his work with the Scouts when Tony stopped right in front of him. After almost plowing into his senior agent, Gibbs looked to see what had floored him.

"What the hell?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Having some trouble there, Toby?" Gibbs smirked as he used Tony's favorite nickname for the FBI agent. Hanging upside down tangled in one of the hammock chairs, Fornell tried to turn enough to stare at Gibbs' legs.

"Don't even start. Just get me out of this damn thing."

Tim was about to explode and he could see that Tony was even closer to the edge. Grabbing his partner, he tugged him off to the side. "Umm, we're going to start the potatoes for breakfast."

"Yeah, potatoes, sure." Tony allowed himself to be pulled away, but kept looking back at the tangled man.

Rubbing his face to hide his own grin, Gibbs squatted down to be eye level with Fornell and was greeted with a shake of the head. "Don't ask, okay."

"And here I was expecting to get a set of these for Christmas." Unable to resist, Gibbs pushed just enough to get him swinging again.

"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"

"Nope." Deciding it was somewhat like ripping a bandage off, Gibbs stood and grabbed one of the ropes. As Fornell sputtered in alarm he yanked hard, spinning him around and dumping him on the ground. "See, that wasn't so hard."

Fornell grumbled and accepted the hand that pulled him back onto his feet. "Says you. At least tell me we're having fish for breakfast."

"Yep."

"And Tim is the one cooking?"

"Yep."

"At least one thing is going right this morning." Trying to maintain the remains of his dignity, Fornell returned to their tent, calling out his order as he passed the camp kitchen. "Hey, I like my eggs over hard."

"What am I, a short order cook?" He turned to Tony, who was industriously chopping potatoes as per Tim's instructions. "Let me guess, you want scrambled?"

As much as Tony hated eggs that 'looked' at him, he understood the work of individual orders. "Yeah, but..."

"It's okay, at least you're helping. Besides, I'm going to do it all together. How's a frittata sound?"

"Sounds good."

Gibbs cleaned and de-boned the fish while Tim fried the potatoes. When the fish filets went on the grill, Tim poured the well-beaten eggs over the partially cooked potatoes and topped it with cheese before tucking the pan down into the coals, making a simple and easy frittata to go with the grilled fish.

Dignity apparently restored (and caramel washed off his face), Fornell arrived, lugging the stools, in time to help make the coffee and smiled his thanks when he was handed a plate piled high with food. Nothing was said, but he and Gibbs both carefully watched as the two younger men managed to easily hop into the hammock chairs, even balancing a plate. Fornell thought he heard a snicker from his counterpart, but when he looked, Gibbs had his usual stone face firmly in place.

After breakfast, Fornell and Gibbs handled the clean-up. Gibbs had always been a firm believer in an equal division of labor and none of his ex-wives ever complained about his willingness to do the dishes. Once that was done, he jerked his head back toward his tent and Fornell followed him.

"Are you sure we're watching the right guy?"

Listening to what Gibbs was saying, Fornell had to admit the concern was valid. "If he set his brother up to take the fall, he's not only someplace else, but..."

"He found out he was going to be under surveillance." The possibility their suspect had a contact within the FBI was an even larger problem and limited how they could respond. Gibbs pulled out his phone and dialed. "Yeah, Leon, we might have a problem."

Once Vance had their own people running a deeper background on the suspect and looking into the possibility that he had a source at the FBI Gibbs and Fornell went back outside. It had never warmed up that morning and the air was definitely getting damp.

"We're going to have rain, aren't we?"

"Maybe." Gibbs looked around. He wasn't really worried about his heavy tent, but the boys might have a problem with their lighter weight one. Tim was apparently aware the the changing weather, because he and DiNozzo were moving things around.

-NCIS-

"Storm's coming."

"What?" Tony looked around. There was a little bit of a chill to the air and the usual morning cloud cover didn't seem to be lifting.

"Probably not a bad one." Tim paused and checked the weather report on his phone. "Yeah, they're predicting showers off and on for most of the day. Come on, let's get a few more awnings set up and some things put away."

One large tote that was still in the back of Tim's truck was brought out and opened to reveal several large tarps, rolls of nylon rope and a pile of aluminum pole pieces. While Tony screwed all the poles together, Tim planned out the placement. One went in front of their tent, overlapping slightly so no rain would fall in between them. The next went in front of that, keeping them dry while they sat around the fire. It had the tallest poles, allowing it to overlap the first and keeping it high and safely away from the flames. The third awning was the largest and actually used the poles from the first two on one side while stretching out to cover the kitchen area.

When they were done, the guylines holding the awnings taut were spread to almost the edges of the campsite. To keep any of the group from tripping over them, especially at night, Tim hooked a combination reflector/LED light to each of the lines.

Tony grinned, glad he was camping with his tech-orientated partner instead of their old-school team leader. The store of poles and ropes was seriously depleted, but there was still a large stack of awnings, so he held one of them up. "What are the rest for?"

"Sidewalls, if it really starts coming down."

"Cool." Tony hated being wet and cold, so he was eager to help. "What's next?"

"Take the hammock chairs down and pack them up, then make sure nothing in the tent is touching the walls." Tim grinned as he unhooked one of the chairs. He hadn't told Tony, but he'd managed to sneak in not only a picture of Fornell tied up in the chair, but also a video of Gibbs' rescue. "The tent's been waterproofed and the rain fly has about four coats on it, but anything pushing against the walls from the inside can still cause water to wick inside."

Since the chairs took a great deal of understanding to properly take down and fold up (and possibly a degree in engineering), Tony left that to Tim and went inside the tent. He'd been following Tim's lead in keeping everything folded up and packed away, so it just took a quick check to make sure nothing was touching where it shouldn't. The only thing he wasn't sure about was the power cord, so he went back out to ask McGee.

Tim was spreading a tarp over the bed of the truck when he saw Tony and waved him over. "Here, grab the other end, okay?" All of the bins were plastic and watertight, but the tarp spread over the bed gave an added layer of protection. The tarp was longer and wider then the truck bed, letting it drape almost to the bottom of the side panels before being hooked into place with short bungee cords.

Judging from the way the plastic tarp easily fell into position this wasn't the first time it had been used for this purpose. "You're really an old hand at this."

"Yeah, well, most of my Scouts are geeks."

Tony snorted, but otherwise kept his mouth shut, and saw the same reaction from Gibbs, who was walking over and listening to the conversation. They could both see boys not impressed with the gun-ho, primitive style of camping gravitating to Tim's more modern, more comfortable, approach. Tim just grinned at both of them as he continued to explain. "When you've got kids that aren't really sure about the whole outdoors thing, being cold and miserable doesn't really help their enthusiasm level."

"I can see that." Tony really could see it, too. He'd never ever call himself a geek, but he'd had more fun during this camping trip than any he'd gone on as a child. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was the comfort level, but he was willing to bet it was a combination of both. Before he could comment, Tim was talking again.

"The best part is that a couple of boys that never would have had the chance to go camping are part of my troop now. Boys that are medically too fragile to ever go hiking miles into the wilderness, but still want a chance to just be a kid." Tim gave them both a careful look. "Always great to have another adult or two along, even if it's just for part of the trip."

Tony found himself agreeing even before his fear of kids could talk him out of helping. "I can probably manage that."

Gibbs finally joined their conversation. "That's where you go on the second week of July every year?" He'd never really thought about it, but that week of vacation was always non-negotiable with McGee, had been for almost six years.

"Yeah. We have to stick pretty close to town with a good hospital and be at a campgrounds with power, but I try to make sure the boys get a taste of what real camping is all about."

Gibbs smiled at that and he knew that Vance would understand. "Next year, I'll make sure the whole team is off the rotation for that week. Maybe even Ducky will come with us so you'll have a doctor right in the campsite." Tim's whole face lit up and Gibbs knew it was the right thing to say.

"That would be great. They'd love all of his stories."

Giving a nod to that, Gibbs looked around the campsite. He was no longer surprised at Tim's ability, but he was pleased with the additional set up. "Since you're going to be in charge of the cook fire for the rest of the trip, why don't I move my supplies over here and you just help yourself to whatever you need?"

"Sure."

Fornell was chopping wood, one of the few camping chores he was comfortable with, so they let him continue with that as Tim and Tony helped bring over the two wooden boxes and the cooler. Tim pointed out the three different coolers he was using at their camp. "That one has drinks and everything that is better cold, but won't spoil if it gets a little warm. The next one is basically our fridge, and everything in that one over there is still frozen so we're not even opening it until probably tomorrow."

Gibbs nodded and divided the food from his cooler into the first two Tim pointed out. Both of those were the high end coolers that Gibbs had seen at various stores. According to the ads they would keep things cold for at least five days. The third was a brand that Gibbs had never seen, but it was well-built and had heavy metal latches.

Remembering Gibbs' threat to Fornell of beans the first day, Tim grinned at the package of steaks Gibbs subtly slid into the cooler. Gibbs returned the grin and leaned closer. "We'll just let Tobias think all of this was yours."

"Probably a good idea."

The more often a cooler is opened the quicker it warms up so Gibbs didn't spend a lot of time rooting around to see what else Tim had brought, but one tall canister caught his attention. "You got special plans for that?"

Tony had asked the same question the first night and Gibbs got the same answer. "Yep, you'll see."

-NCIS-

Once the rain started, they had a lazy afternoon. Kyle was settled into his tent, so the four agents enjoyed sitting around their campfire. Lunch was basically self-serve after Tim set out an assortment of deli meats and cheeses along with bread and the various condiments to make sandwiches. It took the coffee makers from both camps to keep up with the four of them, but the hot beverage took the chill of afternoon. For a moment Tony thought he'd hit the jackpot when he found a box of playing cards in the tent.

"All right, how about some cards? We've got... these are kid's games."

Gibbs pointed at McGee. "Hello, Scoutmaster over there. Were you really expecting poker?"

"Well..."

Fornell reached across and grabbed one of the boxes. "I used to love playing this with Emily."

Watching the two set up the card game, Tim leaned closer to Tony. "I'm gonna get the steaks marinating. You want to help?" Not quite able to look away, Tony nodded and stood, their actions ignored by the two bent over the small camp table.

"You got a blue shark, Tobias?"

"Nope, Jethro. Go fish."


	6. Chapter 6

"Good morning."

Tony had been sleeping extremely well so Tim snuck out of the tent to let him sleep a while longer only to find Gibbs getting the fire and the coffee started.

"Morning, Tim." Gibbs appreciated the younger man's quiet approach to life, but he was a little worried. Tony had easily and joyfully started calling him Dad for the op, maintaining their cover, but Tim had not. He hadn't slipped up and called the older man Boss or Gibbs, but the idea of calling him Dad seemed to bother his youngest. First off, Gibbs tilted his head toward the camp they were watching. "He up yet?"

"Nope." Tim showed the screen of his phone. "Still buried in his blankets. If there's a change in his body temperature or any movement, one of the cameras will pick up on it and my phone will vibrate."

Gibbs knew about the cameras, but he didn't know McGee had set up motion detector and heat sensitive ones. "Not usually one to focus on the tech stuff, but I want you to know, you're doing a great job with it." He waved a hand around. "With all of this."

"Thanks." Tim beamed at the praise, but Gibbs was still noting the lack of words, even if he wasn't sure why it was bothering him.

"You go camping with the Admiral much as a kid? In fact, what did you call him before he made Admiral?"

Tim gave him a confused look. "He was a Vice Admiral."

Gibbs shook his head. "When did you start calling him by his rank?"

"I was four when he made full Lieutenant." Thinking about, Tim gave a slight shrug. "It was... expected."

"His rank was important to him?"

"He was the first of his graduating class at Annapolis to make Lieutenant, so, yeah. Probably the most important thing. Certainly more important than taking me camping or fishing. There were Scoutmasters for that chore."

Rank had never been important to Gibbs, not like his family or the chance to do his job, to take care of his men. More than that, spending time with Kelly had never been a chore. He'd met men like John McGee, always chasing the next promotion, but he'd never understood them. "He had more important things in his life and if he didn't understand that, then he was a fool, still is if he hasn't figured it out yet."

"I guess."

Another shrug and Gibbs saw remnants of the timid and shy young man that had joined his team years ago. Rather than call him on it, he instead decided to show him how a father should treat his son. He'd been doing it for years with Tony, who had finally learned to stand up and be his own man and now it was Tim's turn. "So, what's on the menu for today?"

Happy to have that particular discussion over, Tim opened one of the coolers and pulled out four potatoes that he'd baked extra the night before. Gibbs had wondered what he'd been up to with the extra potatoes and grilled steaks he'd tucked away before feeding the group. The potatoes were mostly cooked, but still firm and Tim cut the top off and scooped out most of the potato, leaving the skin and a thin layer of the potato. Pre-cooked bacon and shredded cheese went into the hollow before a raw egg was dropped in and the filled potatoes were set on the bottom grill.

"Nice."

-NCIS-

Tony woke slowly, enjoying his warm sleeping bag as the third day of the assignment started. It hadn't been quite cold enough that night for McGee to use the heater, but it was cold enough that Tony was glad he'd spent the extra ten dollars on the cold weather bag. He was just about ready to venture out of his warm nest when he heard Gibbs and Tim talking about the Admiral. Most of what Tim was telling him Tony already knew, but he was glad to hear Gibbs asking and Tim opening up to the older man. Not wanting to interrupt, Tony stayed in his bed until the conversation turned to safer topics.

Just as he heard Gibbs asking about the potatoes, he decided it was safe to venture out. He swapped his sweats for heavy clothes and sat down to put on his boots. When the rain started yesterday, Tim had set one of the lids from the plastic bins upside down just inside the door of the tent. As he explained to Tony, it was to set their boots in, the raised edge keeping mud and water from spreading inside the tent. The younger man obviously knew what he was doing as they'd come through the rains without any mud or water getting into the tent. Even the power cord was secured enough that no water had wicked in that way.

"Mmm, do I smell coffee?"

Tim laughed as his partner homed in on the pot and tossed him a few of the hazelnut creamers. "Here you go."

Gibbs took the first cup and headed back to his own tent enjoying the way the hot strong brew burned on the way down. Behind him he heard the boys talking and laughed.

Tim grinned as Tony poured three of the little packets into his cup and reached for the pot. "I'll warn you, I'm not the one that made the coffee this morning."

Tony immediately grabbed another handful of the creamers. "Thanks for the warning, that could have been bad."

Still chuckling as he stepped inside his tent, Gibbs sat down on his sleeping bag and set the cup next to him before pulling his phone out. He'd have to put it on the car charger for a while today, but he wanted to check in with Vance first to see what he'd found. Fornell was still a lump buried in his sleeping bag, but as Gibbs opened his phone a hand crept out and headed for the coffee cup.

"Only if you want to lose that hand, Tobias."

The hand was snatched back and tugged the sleeping bag down before Fornell gave him a bleary-eyed look. "You could have brought me back a cup, you know."

"Ah, you need to get up and start moving around, you lazy bum."

"That's easy for you to say." It took a good twenty minutes for Fornell to get upright and dressed. Gibbs watched, shaking his head, and reported Vance's findings once Fornell had finished.

"The missing brother is actually the suspect. Your boss has his suspicions about who tipped him off and they've got an investigation started. You're to call in at noon for an update. Hopefully by then they'll have some solid evidence."

Fornell nodded, the news wasn't that surprising after what they'd already learned. "What do they want us to do in the meantime?"

"Stay here, watch Kyle. If nothing else, we don't want to tip our hand about knowing about the switch. The brother might still show up if he's got a meet set."

Wait and see, the classic answer. Lately it seemed that Fornell's job consisted of ninety percent sitting around and ten percent in a panicked fight for survival. "Great. Any movement over there yet?"

"Not yet. Tim's got both motion and heat sensitive cameras trained on the camp. Kyle doesn't turn over in his bed without him knowing about it." Gibbs gracefully rose to his feet, enjoying the glare he got from Fornell. "Come on, he's got breakfast started, too."

Fornell picked up his toiletry bag, planning a detour to the camp restroom before breakfast. "I'm half tempted to poach him away from you when we get back."

"Nope, you can't have him, but we might let you come camping with us this spring."

"Do I get to have a real bed next time?" He got the look from Gibbs. "Yeah, I didn't think so."

-NCIS-

When Fornell returned, feeling slightly more human, the other three were just finishing their food. Tim pointed to one potato sitting on the high grill, staying warm. "I saved you one."

Tony and Gibbs were both scraping the last of the food off their plates and gave him identical non-apologetic grins. Fornell just shook his head as he took the plate Tim offered. "Yep, you're still my favorite nephew, kid."

An assortment of condiments and toppings were available and Fornell piled his potato high before he finally got his morning cup of coffee. "Who made the coffee?" Tony and Tim both pointed at Gibbs so Fornell gave his coffee a healthy shot of creamer before taking a sip.

The morning broke crisp and clear, so after breakfast they spent a few hours checking the camping supplies for water damage as everything dried out. Tim looked across to Gibbs' camp to see the older man checking his tent. "I've got seam sealer if you need any."

Gibbs dug in his pocket before holding up his own tube in answer.

At noon the sandwich makings made another appearance, but Fornell was poking around the camp kitchen, checking out was Tim was already starting. He went for casual and failed miserably. "So, what ya' working on?"

Picking up on both Gibbs' and Tony's enjoyment of needling the other man, Tim dragged it out. "Dinner."

"I figured that part out myself." He reached out to snag a piece of green pepper.

"You do realize that I have a knife in my hand."

Fornell reacted without thinking. "Yeah, but you're not Ziva so I think I'm safe." Realizing what he'd said, Fornell looked up. "Crap, sorry."

Tim shrugged, but there was a stiffness to his movements that wasn't there before. "Not your fault. It was her choice and her choice alone. But, unless you want to make a personal contribution to the protein in our dinner, I'd suggest you keep your hands out of the way while I'm chopping onions. I may not be able to throw a knife like she could, but I'm only two inches away from the chopping block. Even I can't miss it at that distance."

Not really knowing what to say, Fornell opted to not say anything but refilled Tim's coffee as his own version of an apology before retreating to call the office. Tony was nearby and as the unofficial sous-chef of the kitchen, Tim put him to work.

"Tony, you want to grab me the cumin and the smoked paprika?"

"Sure thing." Tony walked over and quickly found the requested spices – quickly enough that Gibbs got curious and joined him.

"They're alphabetized? We're out here for a week and you've got your spices alphabetized."

Tony had done his teasing earlier when they'd set up camp to begin with. "Well, you know, Dad, our little Timmy is a little OCD.

"I'm not OCD, it's CDO. Thank you very much."

Tony was grinning as if it were an old joke between them so the returning Fornell leaned closer to Gibbs. "CDO?"

It had taken a few seconds, but Gibbs had figured it out. "OCD, alphabetized."

"Yep."

-NCIS-

They might have claimed it was the stalled case or the changing weather but the truth of the matter was that it was the smell of the homemade chili bubbling away in the Dutch oven that kept them close to camp. Tim had planned it with both ground beef and ground pork but the addition of the left over steak really put it over the top.

Every time Tim shifted, the other three leaned close, hoping he'd open the lid and they'd get a whiff of what was inside. Eventually, Tim laughed and reminded them of one simple fact. "Guys, the less I open it, the better it cooks." They settled back a bit after than, but Gibbs watched carefully as Tony deliberately put some of the spices back in the wrong spot. Tim just rolled his eyes and headslapped his 'brother' before rescuing the oregano from beside the basil and the chili powder from the bottom row and putting them back in the right spot.

"Everything in the right place now?"

One container was sticking out just a fraction of an inch and Tim couldn't help but nudge it back. "Now it is." Satisfied, Tim sat down and took out a container of Tic Tacs to pop one in his mouth and Gibbs realized where the spice containers had come from.

"Apparently you save the container?"

"Yep. Had all my scouts saving theirs, too, last year."

"Clever."

"The more of them I have, the more creative I get with cooking. You want a mint?" Tim held out the container and Gibbs took three of the bright green candies.

Still on his mission to get McGee to open up to Gibbs more, Tony plopped down next to Fornell and handed him one of the fake beers before Fornell could interrupt them. "So, you ever take Emily camping?"

"No."

"Why not? Just because she's a girl?"

"Well, no, of course not." Flustered, Fornell struggled to explain. "Camping is not really something I..."

"Cause, you know, those are some of the best memories a kid can have."

Fornell wasn't quite sure how to react to this introspective version of DiNozzo. "You and Senior spend a lot of time camping?"

Tony turned to actually look at him. "Just one vacation and we were renting a cabin instead of being out in a tent, but yeah – that one week, it meant everything." He shrugged and climbed to his feet. "I'm going to bring over some more firewood. Looks like Tim's getting ready to cook something else."

Sure enough, McGee had a cast iron skillet over the fire even thought to Fornell's untrained eye, there was more than enough wood within reach for three more days of cooking. Realizing the gift he'd been given, Fornell remembered the days when he made it a point to do something special with his daughter and wondered why he'd let that time slip away.


	7. Chapter 7

"That was damn good chili and cornbread."

This morning Gibbs had been nice and brought two cups of coffee back with him, even though Tim had gotten to the coffee pot first. "Well, yeah, you ate three bowls of the chili and practically licked the last crumb of cornbread out of the skillet."

Fornell really didn't have an answer to that so he changed the subject. "Clear and cold today, what's the plan? Other than keep watching Kyle and hope his brother shows up?"

"Well, the weather's good for fishing. Let's see if that gets him out of his tent this morning."

The other tent was stirring to life and after more coffee was made the four men headed down to the lake. Their usual spot was pretty muddy still from the earlier rains so Gibbs led them to a new spot, coincidentally a little closer to the campsite they were watching. The slightly different terrain prompted Gibbs into pulling out a different set of tackle.

"What's that?"

Gibbs smiled at Tony's question. Tim had brought fishing gear for both of the boys, but it was the standard starter kit most novices carried. It worked fine when they were standing on the bank next to a deep section of lake, but it was shallower here. "Water's not very deep over here so we need to cast further out and make sure we don't hit bottom."

Feeling more like a father than he had in many years, Gibbs explained the different types of lures and spinners he had and helped his two boys change out their gear. For their part, both Tony and Tim soaked up the information, especially Tim who had only taken his scouts to various public fish farms where they were guaranteed a good catch.

Tobias also listened carefully. He wasn't much of an outdoors-man, but he did know about fishing and even he learned a few tricks that morning. Mostly, he enjoyed watching his old friend interacting with the boys, not a trace of 'agent' or 'gunny' evident that morning.

The first fish of the day had been Gibbs' as he demonstrated shallow water techniques. Tony had reeled in the second, followed by Fornell. Now Tim had a monster of a trout tempted, but not quite latching onto the hook yet and Gibbs was at his shoulder, encouraging him and giving him more hints.

"Yes, you got him, son. Let him fight it for a minute, wear him out before you start reeling him in." Gibbs had one hand on Tim's belt to make sure he didn't lose his balance on the rocks and a net in the other hand. "That's it, Tim, you got him now. Here, Tony." Gibbs handed the net off to Tony who dropped down onto his knees with the net and scooped up the fish when it finally broke the surface of the water. "Damn, that's a beauty, Timmy."

"Thanks, Dad." The words were out before he realized. He froze for a split second, but the hand ruffling his hair had him relaxing and enjoying the moment.

"Ya did good, kiddo."

Tony was back up on his feet, holding the net for all of them to see. "Damn, that's the biggest one we've ever gotten." He was grinning ear to ear and at more than the successful fishing.

They were still celebrating the big fish when Kyle arrived. "Hey, you guys find a better fishing spot?"

"Probably better, definitely less muddy. Pull up a rock and throw in a line, but I think my brother already managed the catch of the day." Tony held the fish up. "Take a look at this monster."

"Wow, what's the record in this lake? I think you might have broken it." Kyle nodded in appreciation for a successful catch, then a sad look crossed his face as he watched the family – Jethro and his two boys and the indulgent uncle smiling at the fun they were having. "Why don't I try further down the bank? I don't want to impose on you guys when you're having so much fun."

"No, it's fine, stay. There's plenty of room here. You still by yourself, Kyle?"

"Thanks, Tobias." Not wanting to be alone, he was easily convinced and sat on the large rock Tony had pointed out. "Yeah, my brother's still a no show. I was really hoping for his help this week."

"Yeah? Anything we can help you with?" Fornell sat on a nearby rock looking carefully at him and noticing the signs of exhaustion, something that should have been fading instead of getting worse during a camping trip.

Kyle sighed and shook his head. "I don't think so, unless one of you happen to be a divorce attorney."

Gibbs and Fornell exchanged a glance, understanding why the look had been so familiar. "No, but we've been there."

"Him several times." Fornell pointed at Gibbs.

"At least you have your kids in your life. My soon to be ex took everything. The kids, the house, the business I'd spent years building up. At least Conner loaned me his camping gear because I'll be living in it if she gets her way." Kyle rubbed his forehead. "Hell, I'd let her have all of it if she'd just let me see my kids."

"When was the last time you saw them?"

He teared up at Gibbs' question. "It'll be a year tomorrow, my youngest boy's birthday."

They all saw the devastation, but Gibbs recognized the look of a man with almost nothing left to live for. They kept the conversation light as the five of them continued to fish. Judging by how eagerly their guest gobbled down the lunch they gave him, there wasn't a lot of food in the other man's camp.

By the end of the afternoon Gibbs was suspicious if something wasn't done to help him, their guest was planning on this week being a one way trip. He exchanged subtle looks with the Tobias and the boys, getting slight nods in return.

"With all this fish, why don't you join us for dinner?" He pointed at Tim. "My youngest is the Bobby Flay of the great outdoors."

Right on cue, Tim blushed and ducked his head. "I wouldn't go that far."

Fornell added another fish to the day's catch, his third of the day. "Hey, in comparison to your dad..."

That got a laugh. "Okay, in that comparison, even Tony..."

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

The matching comments and expressions got a laugh out of Kyle. "All right, thanks. Dinner sounds good.

-NCIS-

With an audience and such high expectations, Tim decided to go all out for dinner. Vegetables would take the longest, so he started those first while Gibbs got the fire built up. Raw carrots were tossed with some brown sugar and cinnamon before being divided up into five foil packets and topped with some butter before being folded and sealed up tight. That went on the highest grill before he went to work on the rest.

The fish was simple – seasonings and some fresh green onions in the cavity, coat them with oil and wrap in foil. They were set aside to let the flavors meld a bit while he scrubbed his hands and started some rice. Instant rice was poured into a large disposable foil pan. It was then mixed with green onions that were left from the fish and finely minced. Canned mushrooms were next along with a handful of seasonings and a couple of scoops of chicken bullion.

Gibbs had coffee started and the fire needed a little more time to develop the coals they needed, so Tim got Tony started opening and draining cans of peaches. By the time they had coals instead of all flames going, the peach cobbler was ready to place in the firepit and, other than Gibbs, no one else had seen them make it. Water and a lid were added to the rice and everything went onto the fire. Between the many packets of fish, the carrots, the rice and the pot of coffee, they'd filled both grills with the dutch oven tucked underneath.

Kyle looked on in amazement. "Wow, Tim, your dad wasn't kidding."

While dinner was being prepared, Fornell went down to the campground office where there was a vending machine of ice. After combining kitchens, he and Gibbs had an unused cooler and he layered it with two bags of ice and the rest of the fish, including the big one Tim had caught. That one would be better off being baked in an oven back home.

An hour later, five men were leaned back, licking their fingers, after a satisfying meal. Tim caught Tony's attention and tilted his head toward one of the coolers. Tony gave a nod and they both stood up. Tony went to the cooler while Tim grabbed the mitt and the hook and pulled the Dutch oven out of the coals.

"Who's ready for dessert?"

While Tim was doing that, Tony went to the cooler in question and pulled out what Tim had showed him earlier. Gibbs grinned when he saw what was in his hand. He'd wondered exactly when the spray whipped cream would come into play. "Sounds good, I'll make another pot of coffee."

Eventually, after wiping the last of the cobbler off his plate and licking his fingers, Kyle stood up. "Thank you very much, not only for the food, but the encouragement, but if I don't get back to my camp pretty soon, you guys are going to have to roll me down there."

The temperature had been dropping steadily and they could now see puffs of steam when they talked. Gibbs gave him a worried look. "If you get too cold tonight or you need anything, you come back over, all right?"

"Appreciate that Jethro. I'll see you guys later." He picked up his fishing gear and pulled a flashlight out of his pocket before he started down the path to his camp. Gibbs watched until he was inside his tent, the flashlight making it glow.

It was really too cold to stay outside unless they built the fire back up and no one wanted to stay up that long. Gibbs went ahead and banked the fire as they all prepared to turn in. "Good night, boys."

"Night, Dad."

"Good night... Dad."

Gibbs gave them both a smile and a nod and watched them go into their tent before he and Fornell retreated to theirs. Once inside, Gibbs looked at Fornell, who had spent several hours talking to Kyle. "How big of a mess is he in?"

"Wife's got a rich boyfriend with international connections."

"She could leave the country with the kids, then."

"He hasn't seen them in a year; I bet she already has."

"And if he gets tangled up with his brother's mess, he'll lose any chance of changing that." Gibbs settled on his sleeping bag, tossing an extra blanket to Fornell. "Damn."

"Yeah." Fornell burrowed down inside his bag with a furry hat on his head and the blanket wrapped around him. "I gave him the number of my divorce lawyer. He's expensive, but he went after Diane and got me visitation rights, so he's got to have balls of steel."

Gibbs shook his head. "Bronze, maybe. If they'd been steel, you'd still have the house."

-NCIS-

After the last several nights Tony was well-rested, rested enough that he really wasn't ready to go to sleep. Instead, he flopped down on his bed and watched Tim change some things around. "What'ya doing?"

"Like Gibbs said, it's going to be cold tonight. Thought we could us a little more to keep us warm. Here, give me a hand."

Tony jumped to his feet as Tim pulled out some space blankets and they hung them inside the tent, leaving an air space between the blankets and the tent walls. Next Tim made sure the roof vent was fully open before starting up the tent heater. Tony watched him carefully, noting the propane tank. "Umm, we're not going to suffocate, are we?"

"It's flameless. Uses a catalytic system instead of burning the propane directly. All we need is a seven inch vent and we've got almost twice that."

"Cool."

"No, warm."

They exchanged grins and Tim offered another treat. "If you're not tired yet, we can watch a movie."

"Yeah?" Tony would have brought a few samples of his own extensive movie collection if he'd had even the slightest clue a movie night might be possible out here. "What did you bring?"

Tim knew Tony would be expecting science fiction or fantasy, so he knew the Director's Cut of a new action thriller that Tony had been talking about for weeks would excite him. "How about this?"

Tony's eyes went wide. "That doesn't actually get released until tomorrow. How'd you get a copy?"

"I know people." Grinning, Tim plugged in a split cord that would allow them to have two sets of ear buds and they settled in to watch.


	8. Chapter 8

"Where are you going?" Fornell had woken to the sound of Gibbs getting up and now the man was tying his shoes.

"It's cold."

"You're cold? You?"

"No, not me."

"Then who?" Fornell knew immediately and answered his own question. "They're fine, Jethro."

Gibbs continued to dress, bundling up in his coat and gloves, without saying a word.

"You could just call them, you know." Fornell shook his head and pulled his sleeping bag tighter around his chin. "They're fine, but you're not going to get any sleep until you go check on them and see for yourself, right? Fine, just try not to let any of the warm air out, okay? It's not exactly toasty in here."

Despite Fornell's complaints, the tent wasn't all that cold, at least to Gibbs. It was the boys' nylon tent that had him worried. However, to satisfy his tent-mate, Gibbs stepped through quickly and zipped the door behind him. Once outside, he turned on his flashlight and made his way over to the other tent.

He didn't necessarily want to wake them if they'd managed to fall asleep, but he didn't want to get shot either. Calling out softly, he unzipped their tent before stepping inside. "Tony, Tim, I'm coming in."

Once inside, he found himself between two layers. No matter how curious he was, he zipped the tent closed before finding an opening between the space blankets that were circling the inside of the tent. When he made it inside, the two boys were giving him a rather sheepish look as a movie played in front of them. Tim reached out and paused the movie as Tony tucked his pistol away and then they both removed their ear buds.

Gibbs just stared at them. Dressed in comfortable sweats, they were both sitting cross-legged on their sleeping bags, a bag of trail mix on the floor between them. The tent was warm enough that they could have been wearing t-shirts and still have been comfortable.

Tony pointed to a large plastic lid that their boots were standing on. "If your boots are muddy, they go over there."

That was when Gibbs noticed the padded floor. Eyes narrowing, he bent down and felt the pads. They were only slightly cool to the touch, nothing a pair of heavy socks wouldn't take care of. Then he noticed the double layer of the pads under the sleeping bags and the side of his mouth twitched. "You boys comfy?"

Tim grinned and blushed, ducking his head, while Tony seemed to take the question seriously. He picked up his mug, they'd taken the last of the coffee and added hot chocolate mix to make mocha's. "We're running low on marshmallows."

"Marshmallows?" Gibbs' hand actually twitched in anticipation, then he finally shook his head and laughed before pulling out his phone. It rang twice before they all heard Fornell's rough voice.

_They need help?_

Gibbs smiled at the trace of worry he heard, even if Fornell would never admit it. "Nah, they've got heat."

_Heat? They've got heat? Holy hells, I'm on my way._

What seemed only seconds later they could hear clomping coming toward the tent. To be safe, Gibbs unzipped the tent and poked his head out. In the moonlight he could see Tobias still wearing the fur cap with the ear flaps, both sleeping bags wrapped around him and shoe laces flapping as he ran.

Gibbs got out of the way just in time and Fornell came charging through, landing in a heap in the middle of the tent as Tim grabbed their cups and Tony lifted the trail mix bag high over his head.

"Hey, look, Toby's here."

Fornell glared at Tony, then slowly looked around, taking in everything before turning back to glare at Gibbs. "I'm sitting in your tent, freezing my ass off and they're sitting over here watching a movie, drinking hot chocolate and..." Fornell's head swiveled back over to look at the computer, his eye following the cord over and out the back of the tent.

Turning back to Gibbs, the glare returned. "They've got power. How in the hell do they have power?"

Gibbs froze for a moment and Tim answered for him. "All the campsites in this section have power."

"All of the campsite have power?" He looked back at Gibbs for a third time. "Our campsite has power? Why didn't you tell me we had power?"

"Do you have anything to plug in?'

"Well, no, but that's not the point."

"Then what is the point, Tobias?"

Fornell waved his hands around, barely missing Tim. "Look at this, they have everything."

"Not everything." Tony had set the trail mix back down and was now, with a morose expression, holding the bag of mini marshmallows, empty except for a half dozen smashed marshmallows down in the corner. "We're out of marshmallows, Uncle Toby."

"Marshmallows?" Fornell gave Gibbs a 'are they nuts?' look and Gibbs just shrugged.

"Hey, hot chocolate needs marshmallows."

Fornell wasn't quite sure how he'd gotten into this conversation with Gibbs in the first place. "We got plenty of the big ones left."

"If you use those, then you end up getting marshmallow on your nose while you're drinking."

Tony's comment didn't gain him a headslap so Fornell just rolled his eyes. "Fine. What about the whip cream from last night? Is there any left?"

They all looked to Gibbs, who had taken the last can away from Tony the night before in an act of self-preservation.

There was about a half of the can left and it was in the cooler outside. Gibbs sighed and started to put his boots back on. "Anything else you guys want while I'm out there?" He noticed that Tim was still monitoring their neighbor. "How's he doing?"

"Really cold and still sitting up."

Gibbs couldn't imagine that Kyle was very comfortable. "Hide anything he shouldn't see."

Bundled up again, Gibbs ventured back out. Pulling his collar up around his neck better, he followed the now familiar path. There was nothing to knock against, so he called out as he approached the tent. "Hey, Kyle, you still up?"

"Yeah. Come on in."

Seeing Kyle sitting in the center of the tent, arms wrapped around his knees,Gibbs stepped inside, zipping the door closed before he really looked around. It was obvious that he was totally unprepared for the change in weather. "Guess you weren't expecting it to get this cold."

"All I had to do was bring my clothes. Conner was supposed to bring everything else. All I've got is the summer gear and this locked box." Just a few feet in front of Kyle was a metal box, a little larger than a shoe box with a surprisingly large lock bolting it closed.

Gibbs looked over the box, trying to do so without raising too much suspicion. According to the additional research Vance had done, Nathan Conner Moore was the full real name of their suspect and not one of the dozens of aliases he used while reserving various campsites. This campsite was reserved under the name Kyle Baker and the pieces were falling into place for Gibbs. "You and Conner full brothers?"

"No, half-brothers, why?"

"Different last name. How'd you end up with the box?"

Kyle didn't pick up on the fact that Gibbs knew his and Conner's last name. "He dropped it off the day before we were supposed to meet up here. Said he wasn't going to have room for it. Why?"

Before Gibbs could come up with an answer, Kyle's shoulders slumped. "Something about this whole week isn't right, is it?"

"I'm afraid not." Gibbs laid a supportive hand on Kyle's down-turned shoulder. "Come on, grab your sleeping bag. The boys have heat in their tent. Turns out modern does beat out old-fashioned when it gets cold enough."

Kyle eyed the box when Gibbs picked it up. "What's in that?"

Gibbs thought about the break in at the Navy research facility. The break in that was making the brass very nervous and closed-lipped. "Probably something you don't want to get caught with. We'll lock it in my truck for tonight." Gibbs led Kyle back to their camp, walking straight to his truck. "Hop in, I'm going to move this closer to the tent."

Once the truck was next to Tony and Tim's tent, Gibbs pulled an evidence bag out of the glove box. "You're cops?"

"Feds. Come on in and we'll tell you what's going on." The box was sealed up in the bag and Gibbs wrote his name across the tape before opening up a compartment in the floorboard. The box was locked inside the compartment and the truck was also locked before Kyle followed Gibbs inside the tent.

Tony had a cup of hot chocolate ready for Kyle, complete with the last of the marshmallows. Once Kyle had his gloves pulled off so he could wrap his fingers around the warm mug, Tony handed it over. "Here, this should help take the chill off."

"Thanks, man."

"No problem." Tony glanced over at Gibbs, trying to gauge how much he'd already told Kyle. Gibbs saw the look and gave a subtle nod. "So, your brother wimped out about the cold weather?"

"I don't know what's going on, but I guess you guys do."

Surprisingly, Gibbs decided to break it gently. "What do you know about what your brother does for a living, Kyle?"

The realization of how little he really knew was starting to show on their guest's face. "He's a consultant, but... I don't know what he consults about or what companies he works for. Haven't talked to him in months, then he called out of the blue and invited me to go camping with me, said he could help me. I believed him... I wanted to believe him." Kyle looked at Gibbs. "He's not really a consultant, is he?"

"No, he's not." Gibbs answered, then turned to Fornell since it was actually his case. Fornell sighed and started to explain how they'd all ended up at that particular campground.


End file.
